Numbers 23:24
22 God brought them out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox.
23 For there is no spell against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What great things God has done!’
Behold, the people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion, not resting until they devour their prey and drink the blood of the slain.”
25 Now Balak said to Balaam, “Then neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!”
26 But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Behold, the people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion, not resting until they devour their prey and drink the blood of the slain.”
- KJV
- Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
- WEB
- Behold, a people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”
- ASV
- Behold, the people riseth up as a lioness, And as a lion doth he lift himself up: He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, And drink the blood of the slain.
- DARBY
- Lo, the people will rise up as a lioness, and lift himself up as a lion. He shall not lie down until he have eaten the prey and drunk the blood of the slain.
- BLB
- Look, a people like a lioness rises, and like a lion lifts itself up. It shall not lie down until it devours the prey and drinks the blood of the slain.”
- ÅB
- Se - et folk som reiser seg som en løvinne, springer opp som en løve; ei legger det seg før det har mettet seg med rov og drukket dreptes blod.
- OTB
- Folket reiser seg som en løvinne; de vekker seg som en løve som ikke hviler før den har fortært sitt bytte og drukket blodet av de drepte.»
- B1930
- Se - et folk som reiser sig som en løvinne, springer op som en løve; ei legger det sig før det har mettet sig med rov og drukket dreptes blod.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Genesis 49:27
Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.”
Read in contextGenesis 49:9
Judah is a young lion— my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?
Read in contextRevelation 5:5
Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Read in contextNumbers 24:8–9
God brought him out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox, to devour hostile nations and crush their bones, to pierce them with arrows.
Read in contextNumbers 24:17
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab and strike down all the sons of Sheth.
Read in contextZechariah 12:6
On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among the sheaves; they will consume all the peoples around them on the right and on the left, while the people of Jerusalem remain secure there.
Read in contextProverbs 30:30
a lion, mighty among beasts, refusing to retreat before anything;
Read in contextZechariah 10:4–5
The cornerstone will come from Judah, the tent peg from him, as well as the battle bow and every ruler together.
Read in context